My father, Donato D'Oria, was born in Martina Franca in 1888. His father, Francesco D'Oria, was born there in 1825. His mother's maiden name was Anna Montanaro. She was born in Martina Franca in 1827. Other names in my family tree related to Martina Franca are Liuzzi, Lodeserto, Chiatante,
and Serio.

I have just recently renewed my interest in genealogy and am trying to trace my D'Oria and Montanaro ancestors beyond the 1800's.

I would appreciate hearing from anyone who would have information that might help.

Welcome to ItalianGenealogy!!
What resources have you used up to this point?
If you can share some insight as to what research has already been done,
we can help to point you in the right direction!!
wldspirit

I have been using Family Treemaker for about 5 years. Much of my information has come from talking with cousins in Martina Franca whom I visited several years ago. From there, I researched the net including Ancestry.com and others. I will soon visit the Family History Center in Charlotte, N.C. to arrange for several microfilms dating from 1820 to 1848. Hopefully, this will take me beyond my great grandfather and great grandmother who were born in 1825 and 1827 respectively. I am also trying to remember the name of the cemetary in Martina where all of my ancestors are buried. Can you help?

I have a small database that I compiled for a friend of mine whose ancestors originated in Martina Franca (also Alberobello). It includes her direct lines of Basta, Chiatante, Fragnelli, Fumerola, Iacovazzi, Marraffa, and de Vito aka Esposta. Her 3GGM is Grazia Maria Chiatante, born circa 06 APR 1804, daughter of Vito Chiatante and Comasia Fragnelli. Grazia Maria Chiatante married Tommaso Paolo Marraffa on 10 JUL 1824. I am working with the Martina records right now, trying to push the end-of-lines back a bit further. Perhaps you could post some details about your "great grandfather and great grandmother who were born in 1825 and 1827 respectively." I may run accross their records or perhaps make a connection with my Martina database.

Thanks for the information. Of my father's maternal ancestors there are the surnames Chiatante and Fumerola. Comasia Chiatante (abt. 1791) married Martino Liuzzi in 1812. They had at least one child, Angela Martina Liuzzi, born July 4, 1813. Regarding the Fumarola surname, Anna Fumarola (abt. 1802) was married to Angelo Colucci (abt. 1800). They had at least two children, Pietro Colucci (b. April 10, 1826) and Martino Colucci (b. July 3, 1824).

Regarding my great grandfather Francesco D'Oria, and great grandmother Anna Montanaro, I have not yet identified either of their parents. They are, however, buried in the main cemetary in Martina Franca. If I can find the name and address of that cemetary, I would like to correspond with them to get the information I need. I will also write soon to provide information about their children and descendants, as you suggested.

The cited film contains the processetti for the year 1812, but not the atti di matrimoni. Therefore, I couldn't verify the exact marriage date of Martino Pasquale Vito Liuzzi and Comasia Maria Vita Chiatante, except that they were married in 1812. Note that the Film Notes at www.familysearch.org do not mention the Martina processetti. However, they are included with the atti di matrimoni for some years.

I'll be working with the Martina Franca records for a while and I'll keep an eye out for Angelo Colucci/Fumarola and Francesco d'Oria/Anna Montanaro.

Thank you very much for the information. I've already added it to my Family TreeMaker file. Hopefully, sometime next week I will make my first visit to the Family Search Library in Charlotte, N.C. to reserve and rent several films that may help me complete more of the blanks in my records.
Thanks again for the information

Hello,
if you want to go beyond 1800's, you can make your research to Martina Franca civil record office( records from 1809 to today) , or to Archivio di Stato di Taranto that has the second copies of Martina Franca civil record office (from 1809 to 1845)

Before 1809 there are not civil records but just church records (starting on 1550 circa, there is nothing before), and the records are all written in latin (church records are written in latin from 1550 to 1960 circa, Pope John XXIII changed the rules, after that church records had to be written in Italian)

deedoria wrote:My father, Donato D'Oria, was born in Martina Franca in 1888. His father, Francesco D'Oria, was born there in 1825. His mother's maiden name was Anna Montanaro. She was born in Martina Franca in 1827. Other names in my family tree related to Martina Franca are Liuzzi, Lodeserto, Chiatante,and Serio.

I have just recently renewed my interest in genealogy and am trying to trace my D'Oria and Montanaro ancestors beyond the 1800's.

I would appreciate hearing from anyone who would have information that might help.

JohnArmellino wrote:I have a small database that I compiled for a friend of mine whose ancestors originated in Martina Franca (also Alberobello). It includes her direct lines of Basta, Chiatante, Fragnelli, Fumerola, Iacovazzi, Marraffa, and de Vito aka Esposta...

John,

I would love to get access to this material to see if there is a connection with my Fumarola line from Martina Franca. Is there a way I can access the information?

The civil records for Martina Franca (formerly known as Martina) have been filmed but they only run through 1861. Therefore your connection (1885 I believe) postdates the films. You would have to write to the Ufficio dello Stato Civile.

Thank you for your response. I don't see a "Michele" in your information, which is the limited and only information I have beyond Domenica (her father).

Do you have a sense for how common the Fumarola Surname is from that area? Is there a possible distant connection or is the name very common with multiple, unrelated families?

JohnArmellino wrote:The civil records for Martina Franca (formerly known as Martina) have been filmed but they only run through 1861. Therefore your connection (1885 I believe) predates the films. You would have to write to the Ufficio dello Stato Civile.

I could pursue this route, but given I do not even know for certain Domenica's birth year, I did not figure I have enough information to make a reasonable request.

I don't see a "Michele" in your information, which is the limited and only information I have beyond Domenica (her father).

You have lots more info. As Debi pointed out in the other thread, the manifest states that Domenica's last place of residence was Martina. She also left her father there. Finally and most importantly, page 2 of the manifest states that Domenica and her son were born in Martina. Martina Franca appears to be the town of origin.

Do you have a sense for how common the Fumarola Surname is from that area? Is there a possible distant connection or is the name very common with multiple, unrelated families?

Martina Franca has the greatest concentration of Fumarolas in Puglia. It seems to be indigenous to that town and area. [Outside of Puglia, the only concentrations of the surname appear to be in those areas where southern Italians went to find work: Roma, Milano, etc.] Most of these Fumarolas are probably related to each other, but you would have to research back to the late middle ages to find the first Fumarola. That is not to say that you won't find many distant cousins through your research. If you extend your tree back to the early 1700s, I'm sure you will find many Fumarola relatives in the area.

I could pursue this route, but given I do not even know for certain Domenica's birth year, I did not figure I have enough information to make a reasonable request.

Domenica was 28 years old in 1913, meaning she was born circa 1885. I think this is enough info to request a search of the records for 1885 plus-or-minus two years. I would write to the Ufficio dello Stato Civile. To do any meaningful research with the LDS microfilms, you have to get back to 1861. The address is:

Henry Marraffa (hmarraffa@starpower.net)I am just starting my Italian family tree that includes Marraffa, Luizzi, Carbutti and Citae(?). I am traveling to martina Franca in Sept, 2011 and would like to collect as much info on my family before I get there. If you have any info please forward it to me or if you would like me to look up anything while I am there, please ask.Thanks